Dedicated to God

An Oral History of Cloistered Nuns

Abbie Reese

There has never before been an oral history project with cloistered monastic nuns who observe monastic silence and take vows of enclosure; the author was granted rare access into the enclosure

The author was allowed to conduct oral history interviews with about a dozen nuns and take photographs within the enclosure, and developed close relationships with her subjects over the course of the 6-year project

Author is a professional photographer

Dedicated to God

An Oral History of Cloistered Nuns

Abbie Reese

Description

As a subculture, cloistered monastic nuns live hidden from public view by choice. Once a woman joins the cloister and makes final vows, she is almost never seen and her voice is not heard; her story is essentially nonexistent in the historical record and collective, public history.

From interviews conducted over six years, Abbie Reese tells the stories of the Poor Clare Colettine Order, a cloistered contemplative order at the Corpus Christi Monastery in Rockford, Illinois. Seldom leaving their 25,000-square-foot gated enclosure, members of this community embrace an extreme version of poverty and anonymity - a separation that enables them to withdraw from the world to devote their lives to prayer. This removal, they contend, allows them to have a greater
impact on humanity than if they maintained direct contact with loved ones and strangers.

Dedicated to God explores individual and cultural identity through oral history interviews with several generations of nuns, focusing on the origins and life stories of the women who have chosen to become members of one of the strictest religious orders. But the narrative is also one of a collective memory and struggle against extinction and modernity, a determination to create community within the framework of ancient rules.

The author's stunning photographs of their dual worlds, religious and quotidian, add texture to the narrative.

This artistic and ethnographic work highlights the countercultural values and dedication of individuals who, at incredible personal cost,
live for love of God and humanity, out of faith in what cannot be seen, and with the belief that they will be rewarded in the afterlife.

Dedicated to God

An Oral History of Cloistered Nuns

Abbie Reese

Author Information

Abbie Reese is an independent scholar and interdisciplinary artist who utilizes oral history and ethnographic methodologies to explore individual and cultural identity. She received an MFA in visual arts from the University of Chicago and was a fellow at the Columbia University Oral History Research Office Summer Institute. Her multimedia exhibit, Erased from the Landscape: The Hidden Lives of Cloistered Nuns, has been shown in galleries and museums and she has presented her work at academic conferences internationally.

Dedicated to God

An Oral History of Cloistered Nuns

Abbie Reese

Reviews and Awards

"That is another one of monasticism's surprises: where the world expects sorrow, the cloistered feel joy. Reese's attentiveness and patience allows that joy to reveal itself." --The New Yorker

"A fascinating read, this book lifts the veil of mystery surrounding women who forsake contact with the outside world to become brides of Christ." -- Booklist

"[A] fascinating peek into a life that is often misunderstood and rarely subject to this type of scrutiny" --Library Journal

"Here is holiness that does not lose sight of humanity - for how joyfully the Poor Clares can be seen in these moments. Abbie Reese's imagery shares the evocative light emblematic of Dutch master painters; she reveals a subject that is both richly spiritual as well as handsomely grounded in the most fascinating moments of secular time." --Anthony Bannon, Director, Burchfield Penney Art Center at SUNY Buffalo State, and emeritus director, George Eastman House

"As a photographer and storyteller, Abbie's work has the ability to peer into people's lives. She is not a voyeur, as is often the case with photographers desiring to be 'in vogue', but one who cares about people and desires to bring others to a broader understanding of the human condition. The model of searching for truth that the nuns present, while not something everyone would want to follow, can serve as a model for anyone interested in contributing to the world in their own way. The nuns' stories should be of interest to anyone sincerely seeking to understand the human condition. We have a wonderful, awesome, and very troubled world. It is filled with miracles and horrors - and we need talented, dedicated people with heart, vision, and determination to tell its
stories. Abbie is one of these people, and the world is better for that." --Steve Rowland, two-time Peabody winning documentary producer

"Reese's narrative, based on six years of meticulous interviews, allows us to hear cloistered nuns' own voices and see their (interior and exterior) lives in all of their complexity. Reese explores the Poor Clare Colettines' resolve not to be 'erased from the landscape' but instead to serve as the 'agents of change' that they are. This is a new and fresh view of the cloistered life, a welcome contribution to the growing body of literature on the lives of women religious." -- Debra Campbell, author of Graceful Exits: Catholic Women and the Art of Departure

"So often, descriptions of cloistered religious life for women are written by the woefully uniformed - those smitten by the otherworldliness of the monastery. To correct these misperceptions, a methodology is needed to study enclosed religious life from the inside, while also respecting the canonical boundaries of the cloister. In Dedicated to God, Abbie Reese interviews nuns of the strict Colettine Poor Clare Monastery in Rockford, Illinois. What results is a poignant account of vocation stories, monastic challenges, and everyday living. For those wishing to understand the dynamics of a life lived totally for God, this book reveals the mystic journey as profoundly human, deeply simple, and ever rooted in the human/divine love of Jesus Christ." --Joan Mueller, author of ACompanion to Clare of Assisi: Life, Writings, and Spirituality

"Abbie Reese's Dedicated to God is oral history at its best. Not only is this a remarkable story of cloistered nuns, it is a testament to Reese's great skill as a historian. Few scholars have the patience and sensitivity to win the trust of the cloistered nuns. Through her remarkably candid interviews and stark, but beautiful photographs, Reese has given us a window into a closed society." --Peter Maguire, author of Law and War, Facing Death in Cambodia and Thai Stick